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Dick Tracy, With Special Guest Stars… (meanwhile)

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Well, I’m happy I stated, “I will not guarantee that this is a complete list” at the beginning of this series about comic strip characters guest starring in the Mike Curtis and Joe Staton Dick Tracy strip.

Denny Lien, in the comments section of Part Three, noted several misses.

Barney Google, Spark Plug, and the store owner (name?) appeared in a Sunday Dick Tracy.

Mr. Magoo did a three day bit.

Denny evens mentions The Shadow’s Margo Lane being mentioned by KandyKane Lane. While I didn’t find that one, here’s a more interesting find from the first week of Mike and Joe’s turn on the job.

Cab driver Moe Shrevitz is one of several assisting The One Who Knows What Evil Lurks…

 

In Part Two of this series Don Bagert mentions I missed The Cardinal. I originally made note of the character, and then seriously debated with myself whether to include him; ultimately deciding not to. There are just too many cameos in Mike and Joe’s comic strip to note them all.



And, without a doubt, dozens more. So multi-panel appearances was a (not-hard-and-fast) rule.

I will hold that there is one I definitely should not have overlooked. It’s not only a multi-panel appearance, but it was the return of the creator drawing the character after many years.

Brand new Lynn Johnston art on a For Better or For Worse character in newspapers is not only notable, it is a reason to celebrate.

 

Then Mike Curtis himself wrote in to mention the Jerry “The King” Lawler spots.

Trying to catch all the real and fictional characters (which category would a pro wrestler fall into?) that walk through Mike’s Dick Tracy comic strip would have boggled my mind.



and on and on.

Not to mention scenarios borrowed from literature:

So I committed to a series dedicated to comic strip guesting.

I plead trying to save what is left of my sanity in not including everyone and everything Mike and Joe throw at us. We are just going to have to read the daily strip and enjoy the ride.

 

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Comments 5

  1. And a little off topic: Did you know Archie Comics (Remember the Filmation produced Archie’s TV Funnies on CBS Saturday morning when Dick Tracy was part of it?) almost got the rights in 2018 to do a Dick Tracy comic book series but cancelled plans due to a previous licencing deal? However, IDW, which acquired the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book rights after Archie comics lost the rights from Sega in 2017 after 25 years, did come out with a Dick Tracy comic book series with 2 different miniseries to date: Dick Tracy – Dead or Alive in 2018 and Dick Tracy Forever in 2019.

  2. Will Dick Tracy ever do a Peanuts reference with Peanuts guest star in his strip someday? I think in May 2000 after Peanuts creator Charles Schulz passed away there might have been a Dick Tracy strip honoring Schulz as part of the other then at the time newspaper strips honoring Schulz.

  3. Thank you so much for including the Barney Google/Spark Plug visit! Joe and Mike were so kind to create that! I loved it! They are so talented! The three of us actually did a crossover with Barney/Spark Plug appearing in Dick Tracy on 10-19-’14 and Dick Tracy appearing in the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith comic strip on 10-20-’14 and 10-21-’14. It was a bodacious time!

  4. Thanks muchly for all the crossover information. Sometimes I forget myself how many we have done.

    Mike

  5. John, thanks for reminding us about Snuffy Smith. When Denny mentioned the Smif-Tracy meeting it sounded right, but I couldn’t find it. Now I know why: I was looking in the Dick Tracy archives, when it was a true crossover and I should have been checking the BG&SS archives.

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